| | Texas Hold'Em Texas Hold'em may not
be the most popular poker game in the universe, but anyone who plays poker seriously
recognizes the game to be numero uno. Many of the top players consider Hold'em
to be the most challenging and sublime of all the poker games. After all, it's
the game the greatest players on Earth play to determine the undisputed champion
at the World Series of Poker at Binion's Horseshoe in beautiful downtown Las Vegas.
Good enough for me.
In Hold'em (as it's affectionately known) each player
is dealt two pocket cards face down with five community cards dealt face up. Your
strategy is to obtain the best hand using any 5 of the 7 dealt cards, whether
the combination is your 2 down cards and three table cards, one pocket card and
four table cards, or all five-table cards. It doesn't matter; any 5-card combination
of seven cards is cool.
There are a total of four betting rounds in Hold'em.
The first and second rounds are set at the low limit of the tables' stakes structure
and the final two rounds are set at the high limit of the structure. Example:
If the stakes structure is $5/$10 then the bets and raises would be set at $5
for the first two rounds and $10 for the final two rounds.
It's four
bets maximum per player. Betting rounds would consist of a bet and three raises.
The final raise is capped and a player has only the option to call or fold once
capped. BUTTONS AND BLINDS Dealer Button
- The Button moves from player to player at the beginning of each hand and identifies
the current dealer position; the player at this location is considered to be the
dealer. After each hand is completed the dealer button is moved to the next active
player to the left.
Blinds – In Texas Hold'em, there's no ante,
so the two players to the left of the dealer must post blind bets. A Blind is
a forced bet before you receive your initial cards. The player to the immediate
left of the dealer posts the Small Blind and the player to the immediate left
of the small blind will post the Big Blind. This is used to seed the pot with
cash. Everyone at the table takes their turn playing the blinds. No one is immune.
Small Blind - In our Hold'em game, the small blind is equal to one half
the minimum bet, (Ex. $3-$6 game, small blind = $1.50)
Big Blind
- In our Hold'em game, the big blind is a bet equal to the minimum bet. (i.e.
$3-$6 game, big blind = $3) When you first take
a seat at an active table you’re required to post the equivalent of the big blind.
You can do this by waiting until you are in a position to post it. Another way
would be to post it out of position. If you decide to post out of the big blind
position, you must also post the blind when you are in position if you wish to
remain in the game.
If you were to miss the regular rotation of
posting the blinds, you will be required to post the big blind in order to re-enter
the game. If you were to sit out and miss three big blinds, you would then be
picked up from the table, forfeiting your seat.
BETTING
There are 4 rounds of betting, the first is initiated after 2 cards, pocket cards,
are dealt face down to each player. The next 3 cards, flop cards, are then dealt.
A round of bets. The 4th card board card, turn card, is dealt and another round
of betting ensues. The 5th and final card, the river card, is dealt, after which
the betting resumes. When all bets are in, the showdown takes place between the
remaining players. The winner is declared from the showdown.
Betting
Structure – EuropesCardroom.com’s software enforces the betting limits. The stakes
being offered at the particular table determines the limit or maximum bet on any
player’s turn. For example, at a $1-$2 table, the limit on any bet is $1 on the
first two betting rounds and $2 on the final two betting rounds. We allow one
bet and 3 raises in our card room per betting round. The final raise is capped
and a player only has the option to call or fold once capped.
SHOWDOWN
The first person to show their hand is the last person to show strength with
a bet or raise. The winning hand is the highest 5-card hand using any combination
of the 7 cards that are available. Should multiple hands tie, the pot is split
with any odd amount going to the player closest to the ‘D’ button’s left.
Sounds like fun? You bet it is! - Pardon the pun. 1 ON 1 -
HEADS UP
EuropesCardroom.com offers exciting 1 on 1 action.
It’s man-to-man (or as the online poker world is quickly finding out) woman-to-woman
poker action. It’s your skills up against a single player in this very exciting
format. These tables will only allow two players to sit and will guarantee some
very thrilling hands.
Of course we had to alter the rules slightly to
accommodate play on the 1 on 1 tables. The button now posts the small blind and
will also initiate the betting pre-flop. Betting rounds will be extended to a
maximum of six bets. | |
